Tin City AFS, AK

Contributed by Mike Bennett

This information is taken from Air Force Pamphlet AFP 34-8-6, INFORMATION ON ALASKA FOR AIR FORCE PERSONNEL AND THEIR FAMILIES, dated 26 October 1964.

710th AC&W Sq., Tin City. On a clear day, men of the 710th AC&W Sq. at Tin City AFS can look across the Bering Strait and see the Siberian mainland only 48 miles away.

Tin City`s position, on the tip of the Seward Peninsula northwest of Nome, is closer to Russian territory than any other installation on U. S. soil. Site humorists claim that there is no reason for us to take a back seat to other sites which claim to have the windiest, coldest, mistiest, or most fantastic climate. They have yet to find anyone, though, who would rather be on the other side of the strait.

Tin City AFS is named after a nearby ghost town, the site of a tin mining operation during World War I. The operation was abandoned after the war, when government assistance was stopped. The town is now deserted, so don`t plan on hitting the night spots.

Within the site, every effort is made to compensate for the lack of community facilities. You will find a library, reading lounge, photo lab, and projection room, leather shop, athletic equipment`, movies, and clubs.